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Over Boston's first three games, there's one stat that stands out far from the rest:
.@GLacasse31 has seen 144 shots in 3 games - She has a .931 save percentage after saving 134 of them. That's incredibly impressive #Blades
— Chris Knoblock (@cknoblock17) October 25, 2015
Despite the score in Saturday's 7-1 blow out, Boston Blades veteran goaltender Genevieve Lacasse is almost single-handedly keeping her team competitive.
That's not to say that there weren't any bright spots in the loss. Boston's lone goal came off of a short but effective offensive zone possession. Captain Tara Watchorn unleashed a booming slapshot from the point that was perfectly placed - low and slightly off-center - for Megan Myers to score on the resulting rebound.
If the Blades were able to get more possessions like that they could be a dangerous team. Unfortunately, their biggest problem from the last weekend's pair against Toronto showed up again in Alberta: they were unable to get out of their own zone.
Seemingly every time the Blades tried to break out, an Inferno defender was able to break them up, leading to a lopsided number of shots on goal: 56 for Calgary to just 17 for Boston.
Another problem popped up for the Blades during the game. Boston players, either on break aways or in their own zone, weren't able to take away the pass. Several of Calgary's goals came on from quick shots just after receiving a pass, forcing Lacasse to move side to side in her crease frequently.
A point to build off of for the Blades is their penalty kill, which remains perfect on the season, killing two more this game. This young team with many first year players have been able to unite and play well together in these situations. If they could bring that cohesion to other parts of the game, they could become an effective team, but they aren't quite there yet.
For her efforts, Lacasse was named the second of three stars for the game, which she more than earned, but it's become increasingly clear that other players on the team need to step up and help her.